Cartell finds age of private fleet drops on younger imports

The age of the imported fleet is now at its lowest level since May 2010 and the native fleet age is now at its lowest level since September 2013, according to Cartell.ie.

The vehicle history and data experts says that the overall picture shows the age of the private fleet, both native and imported, has returned to a level last seen in August 2013.

Cartell.ie tracked the age of the fleet (both native fleet and imported fleet) on the first day of each month between February 1999 and February 2019. Between February 2018 and February 2019 the imported fleet has declined in age from an average of 9.0 years to 8.76 years (-88 days). For the equivalent period the native fleet has declined from 8.57 years to 8.48 years (-32 days).

The age of the fleet oscillates throughout the year as vehicles leave the fleet and others enter. However the drop in age of the imported fleet since February 2017 (-209 days) has been particularly notable. In February 2018 the difference in age between the (older) imported fleet and the (younger) native fleet was 158 days while today the difference in age has narrowed to 102 days.

John Byrne, General Counsel, Cartell.ie, says: “A lot has been said lately about imported vehicles. The results of this analysis show the average Irish buyer importing a vehicle is evidently opting for a younger vehicle than before and this is bringing down the age of both the imported fleet and the combined fleet, native and imported.

In January 2015, Cartell released data which showed the age of the private fleet in Ireland had levelled-off significantly for the first time in over 10 years – supporting our view the market was then going into recovery.”

In November 2017, Cartell reported the age of the native fleet stood at 8.62 years while the age of the imported fleet stood at 9.02 years: which was the youngest recorded age for the imported fleet since July 2011. The overall age of the private fleet in Ireland (native and imported) stood at 8.7 years: representing a decline of 80 days since January 2017. That equivalent figure now stands at 8.55 years representing a decline of 68 days since those figures were released.